It's been awhile since I read a novel from start to finish. Actually, that's a lie. The problem is, now that I've sort of switched to e-books (don't kill me), I kind of forget which books I read or that I read books at all. I guess the physical act of turning every page from one to finish really does have more of a lasting impression. Anyway, I see that my friend, Chris, has basically been carrying this blog for a long, LONG time, so I figured it's time I threw in my *cough* yearly *cough* submission.

For awhile now, I've heard of this book. Apparently it's all the rage with preteens and teens alike. I actually really like young adult literature. It's a not so well-kept secret that I would love to write a book for that age range one day. So I try to read what my students are reading so that I can kind of keep up with the whole "cool teacher" vibe. It's nice to have a discussion with my students that doesn't involve math equations or the "why aren't you doing your homework" tone.

So, enter Divergent. According to the youngin's who have recommended it, it was "better than The Hunger Games." Hmmm. This I've gotta see.

It took me awhile to read this. A lot of stop and go, but I was determined (and, quite honestly, forced) to finish it.

Well, it's definitely in the same realm as Hunger Games. I don't know if I would say it's better or worse. Just different. It's got the same idea in the sense that it's in the future and the city is divided up into factions where you are born into and then chosen for one (based on strengths) when you turn 16. You could either choose to stay in the faction you already occupy, or you could change it all together whereby you essentially disown your family and vice versa.

Of course, with every sci-fi(ish) novel, there has to be turmoil and corruption somewhere along the lines for it to work. Well, one of the factions (not telling which one -- okay, I can't remember which one) is plotting to basically pull a Hitler on another faction until the heroin of the book, Beatrice "Tris", saves what could've been a bigger disaster than one that already played out (and took the lives of both her parents).

Tris is divergent which means she doesn't really belong to one faction, but has the quality of many. Apparently, this is a very dangerous thing to be and could get her killed if people (the wrong people) find out about it. Book one of the series (there are three) ends in a way that would obviously lead to book two, so no resolution is in sight.

If you like young adult novels and you like sci-fi and you like The Hunger Games, then chances are you'll like this book. I haven't watched the movie yet, but will probably catch it when it comes out on DVD.

The Marriage Bureau for Rich People

The Marriage Bureau for Rich People
By Farahad Zama

What does an Indian man with a wealth of common sense do when his retirement becomes too monotonous for him to stand it? Open a marriage bureau, of course!

Thus starts The Marriage Bureau for Rich People, a fantastic book that tells the story of Mr. Ali and his small, yet extremely popular, marriage bureau. What starts out as a part time endeavor, flourishes quickly. The book showcases a brilliant cast of characters including Mr. Ali, the careful and kind business manager; Mrs. Ali, his strong and maternal wife; Aruna the full-time assistant to the bureau who's working through her own family-and non-existent marriage-problems; and a slew of people looking for the perfect match.

The customers, albeit important, are just the background to the true story. The young Aruna cannot get married due to her family's financial problems. She works to support them and without her salary, they cannot get by. And without money, they can't pay for the elaborate wedding or necessary dowry the husband's family will expect. While that is happening, Mr. and Mrs. Ali deal with their son, Rehman, a freedom fighter who's trying to stop a giant conglomerate from building on farmers' lands. As he fights for the rights of others, he forgets the feelings of his parents. And in India, you never disrespect your elders.

An underlining theme of the book is what makes a marriage work. To this day, the caste system is still going strong in India. One doesn't marry outside of their caste, and one very rarely marries for love. Instead, through family members, an appropriate match is made. But what's better? A marriage that appeases the family, or one that appeases the husband and wife?

What I found most endearing about the book was the role of Mrs. Ali. It's common to think that the man runs the household, that he leads. But, it's the wife's job to decide if she wants to follow or not. And although Mrs. Ali doesn't go against her husband, she's extremely well spoken and does what she sees as best, even if her husband doesn't understand at first. Mrs. Ali ultimately brings two important people together - not through a marriage bureau, but through love.

Farahad Zama tells the story beautifully with rich words and vivid elements. You could almost taste the halwa Mrs. Ali cooks, see the green sari Aruna purchases, or feel the ripe mango plucked from the tree. Zama doesn't leave one description out. I can't be alone in thinking this - Zama recently won the Melissa Nathan award for comedy romance. He is the first male writer to receive it.

The Marriage Bureau for Rich People is a delightful tale that's an extremely fun read. It made me laugh out loud at parts, and tear up with happiness at others. I loved how it concentrated on important elements of India, but presented them in a lighthearted manner. It's an excellent novel for anyone looking for a quick, enjoyable and interesting literary trip to India. I can't wait to read it again. I'll definitely be checking out the other books Zama has in store.

Atlas of Unknowns

Atlas of Unkowns by Tania James

Atlas of Unknowns was actually nothing like I thought it would be. And that's a good thing. Set in Kerala, India, this beautiful written and incredibly involved story introduces us to two sisters Linno and Anju, and their unknown past and future. When Linno was 7, and Anju just a baby, their mother Gracie died in the ocean. Being raised by their father Melvin, they faced another tragedy when Linno burns her hand badly with a firecracker. Trying to surpass their sad history, Anju, the brilliant one, applies for a scholarship that will take her to New York City, where she will study for 10 months. Lucky for her, she receives the scholarship, yet only by staging a lie - one that reveals itself a few months into her stay in the city.

The story continues to revolve around the girls and how they will one day be reunited again. As Anju tries to get a green card and works in a beauty salon, Linno earns money to get her Visa by creating handmade invitations. Juxtaposed by the story of their mother's past, everything comes together at the end when two separate tales are joined.

I really enjoyed Atlas of Unkowns. The book was incredibly engrossing - jumping from story to story, it was a nonstop page turner. As James's first novel, she weaves a beautiful, yet heartbreaking tale of two sisters and how much they'll risk to set things right. James' descriptions of rural India are so vivid that you could see the multi-colored saris and taste the spicy foods. What she portrays most interestingly, however, is Anju's time in the city. An outsider trying to fit in, Anju learns how to push her way into the subway, talk to people in department stores and make friends with classmates. I also loved the descriptions of Linno's innvitations. Seeing her create an object out of nothing was especially inspiring.

The story is deep, with many layers detailed different generations of the family. Each substory is important, each relates back to the present. Each section is told by a different main character, which is especially important. With that, you learn each side of a story, every part of a never forgotten tale. Additionally, every character is given an incredible amount of detail-enough that you feel as if you know them. Of those Bird is the most important, with her motherly protective ways towards Anju.

My main problem with the book is that it doesn't wrap up in the end. Yes, things are resolved, however so much more is left out. Characters are dropped and plot lines are avoided. Although none of them are as essential as the main story, I would have liked to see what happened afterward. I suppose this book isn't a story though - it's about a life. A life can't be wrapped up after 300 pages; it keeps going.

Regardless, Atlas of Unknowns truly is a beautiful book that I recommend to anyone who has an interest in Indian lifestyles, cultural studies or coming of age tales. I look forward to whatever else Tania James writes.

The Monsters of Templeton

The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff

When this book came out in 2008, the cover instantly made me want to read it. And then, after seeing much talk about it, I finally picked it up. In the end, I'm incredibly glad I did. The Monsters of Templeton is about a girl who returns home from graduate school after a disastrous event to find her small, idealistic town turned slightly upside down. It turns out that in the lake she used to run by and play in, they discovered a monster. A real one. A giant one. The thing is, that's not at all the monster the title is referring to.

While home, at a place she never wanted to visit again, Willie tries to re-coop and reconnect with her hippie mother who's found religion. While doing this she learns of her mother's greatest secret: apparently Willie was not the product of a faceless father during her mother's reckless days in San Francisco, oh no, instead she's the product of one of her Templeton neighbors. One that may, just may, be related to her way back down the line.

And so starts The Monsters of Templeton an intricate tale that follows Willie as she does intense research to find how who her real father is. As the chapters fly by, you read accounts by each person from her family, from old letters to diary entries. Her family tree has so many branches that I created my own genealogy chart to follow it correctly. And it ends with one welcome understanding.

What I was most impressed with was Groff's voice. This being her first novel, she has a very sophisticated story telling ability. For each character she portrays within the novel, there's a new character voice. She creates so many personas and so many histories it's incredibly impressive and addictive. In the end, you just hope that everything she wrote was true and that Templeton (actually based off of the real city Cooperstown, NY) is exactly how you imagine it to be. I do agree that some subplots were a bit much and a bit overwhelming, but that didn't matter in the end. I devoured this book quickly, really loving it, which is why I'm trying to stop myself from tracking down the author who coincidentally lives right by my boyfriend. I'm definitely excited to read her new short story collection Delicate Edible Birds.

The Monsters of Templeton is about reconnecting with your past and learning from it. Going back and reevaluating the monsters and the heros. Learning enough from it to form a future that the next few generations can research and maybe even inspire to be like.

I Just Want My Pants Back

Meet Jason Strider. He lost a pair of his favourite pants to a girl he "made love" to in a refrigerator (she wore them home and never returned them). Now normally losing a pair of pants shouldn't be THAT big a deal, but it is to Jason because those pants are one of three that he owns. He lives in New York and works as an assistant (pay is horrible) and also drinks like a fish and smokes doobies like it's going out of style. Oh, and he needs to eat too. So he doesn't exactly have a lot of money to throw on a pair of pants. (Even though he probably should.)

His is the perfect case which proves that getting an education at an Ivy League college doesn't necessarily mean that you will make the most out of it. His English degree is not one that he uses to help him rake in the dough. The only time he exhibits his use for it is when he text messages his friends or sends them emails. Which happens very often throughout the day since his assistant job doesn't really leave him with much to do where actual work is concerned.

His days are spent running late for work, drinking a lot of alcohol, hanging out with his friends, trying to get laid, smoking up, and going to bed super late despite the fact that he needs to wake up early to start the cycle all over again.

The only bright side there is to his living situation (although, it could be worse ... he could not only look the part of homeless dude, -- which he totally does -- but also play the part as well) is that he befriends his neighbour, Patty. She is much, much older than him but has lived the same lifestyle as he is living now (pot, drinking, frequenting bars until dawn, dead end job) so she is a "cool" older neighbour. You definitely wouldn't mistake her for being somebody's grandma.

This debut novel was written by David J. Rosen. I don't read a lot of books written by dudes, but this is exactly what I would've expected. It was laced with cringe-worthy humour ... you know, the type that you chuckle at but then mentally berate yourself for having laughed in the first place because it was "below the belt?" That kind of humour ... very boy's locker room. I mean ... he writes about sex with a girl in his refrigerator and has his character think in the middle of it, "What a fantastic e-mail this is going to make tomorrow." So something a guy would say. And do.

He eventually gets his pants back, but I felt that the book kind of progressed from him trying to find his pants, to him trying to find his life. I read this book last year (and actually wrote this review last year as well) so it's hard for me to elaborate any more without re-reading. I do remember enjoying it and getting through it quickly. If you're looking for a change of pace with what you're reading, pick this up.

Q&A

Q&A by Vikas Swarup focuses on the life of 19 year old Ram Mohammad Thomas, a poor server in Mumbai, India, who somehow wins a billion rupees on India's equivalent of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Convinced that he cheated (and unable to pay the winning prize amount), the producers try to jail the boy until an attorney interrupts. And that's just the first chapter.

The rest of the book tells the story of Ram's life. Each chapter starts with him discussing with the attorney a certain memory from his past. Each chapter ends with a video clip of him answering a question from the quiz show correctly. Each story he tells correlates perfectly with the question and you learn how he answers each question perfectly. You cheer Ram on as he narrates his tale. His life is full of crazy episodes (living with has-been celebrities, learning about India's red light district, giving tours of the Taj Mahal illegally), but the crazier the better. The ending is far from disappointing, as Swarup delivers an interesting and shocking twist. Every person Ram meets throughout his life is important, every scenario memorable. The book is beautiful, addictive and incredibly entertaining. The writing is spot on and the heartbreaking and warming tale is one to be remembered. Ram is a character who lives on with you, weeks after the last page is closed.

(The film adaptation, Slumdog Millionaire by director Danny Boyle is now out in selected theatres. It focuses more on the love aspect, but still it looks incredible.)

The Bright Side Of Disaster

I read this book in a day. This is Katherine Center's first novel and I think she did a really good job with it.

It was easy to get sucked into the story line and the characters were portrayed in such a way that you automatically felt like you knew them and could picture them in your mind.

This story is about Jenny who is having her fiancé's baby. They are set to get married a month after her due date ... things went a little backwards but it seemed to work out for them. Dean and Jenny met five years prior when he was trying to woo Jenny to show her he's a nice guy so she would give him her friend's phone number (the girl who he was really after). The friend wasn't interested and it was after the rejection that Dean noticed Jenny was "kind of pretty too."

Things seemed to be going well, however Dean (an office worker by day and "in a band" by night), began to get a little distant. Perhaps he wasn't ready to be a father or to settle down. In any case, he chose to deal with this situation and his feelings by leaving her high and dry with a note that explained "it wasn't his fault he wasn't in love with her anymore."

The next day she gave birth to their daughter.

The rest of the story portrays how this single mother went from feeling as though her situation was hopeless to rising from the ashes and making the best of it for the sake of her baby. With the help of her own mother, some new mommies she met at her birthing class, and a cute, attentive neighbour, John, who was there for when she was on the brink of sinking, she was able to get through this ordeal. Dean returns home after 7 months (of course the night she comes back from her first date with the new neighbour) and a whole slew of issues arise.

I really liked how the story progressed but wished that the ending didn't seem so concise and to the point. I would've liked to have seen the ending be drawn out for a few more pages. I really liked the voice that she used throughout the novel. Her next book is due to be published in the Spring of 2009 and it's one, based on this book, that I can see myself wanting to read.

Something Borrowed

Before I start my review, I just wanted to welcome our brand-spanking new reviewers, Amber, Lauren, and Elisabeth. Thanks for taking an interest ladies! Your reviews have been awesome!

Okay ... about the book.

This book was written by Emily Giffin and I believe this is her first novel. I read this book a couple of years ago and I found it was something I could relate to, not because I was sleeping with my best friend's fiancé (like that would ever happen), but because of the age-group of the ladies this book focused on. These women are turning thirty, in the prime of their lives, have great careers and great friends and are living life the way it is meant to be lived: to the fullest.

Of course with every friendship you have the under dog (Rachel) and the alpha dog (Darcy). Darcy is the "look at me!" girl while Rachel is the girl who stands in Darcy's shadow. She is the type of girl who will bite her tongue when it comes to Darcy's antics, because, well that's what best friends do, right?

Darcy is pretty dependent on Rachel. Rachel is ambitious. She's a NYC lawyer and Darcy isn't anything really. Darcy followed Rachel to NY and, considering she didn't really have any work background, managed to snag a glamorous job which paid amazing dollars. But then again, Darcy is the kind of girl that doesn't really have to work to get what she wants. Yes ... she's THAT pretty.

Long story short, Rachel hooks up Darcy with this guy she went to law school with named Dex. At first Dex didn't really show an interest in Darcy (much to her shock) because he kinda sorta liked Rachel. Since Rachel wasn't really confident, she dismissed his feelings because he couldn't possibly want someone like her. Dex and Darcy began to date and wound up getting engaged, with Rachel appointed to maid-of-honour status. On the night of Darcy's surprise 30th birthday party, Darcy goes home pissed drunk and Dex and Rachel end up sleeping together.

This is where it gets interesting. They vow to keep that as a one night thing but the problem is that they can't stop thinking about each other and it continues on to be something ... more. And it's a weird dynamic because Darcy is important to the both of them. This affair comes to a head when Rachel can't stand the lies and being the other woman when she feels she should be THE woman. She tells Dex that he either needs to call off the wedding or they can't continue what they're doing (duh). Strangely enough? I was totally rooting for Dexter and Rachel. Even though they were having an affair. Trust me if you read this book, you would be too.

I loved this book. It was so well written and not hard to read at all. I loved how Emily wrote the story ... her style was awesome. Read this book. It's such a fun read (and it has a sequel!) and it took me about a day to finish it. And I re-read this book. That's how much I liked it (but truth be told, I only re-read the steamy parts).